The US military destroyed two small Iranian boats with missile strikes on Monday after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attempted to seize an American naval drone patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, according to US officials cited by the Axios news website.
A US official stated that the IRGC used the boats in an attempt to capture an unmanned surface vessel operated by the US military. In response, an American drone fired two missiles at the Iranian boats, destroying them and killing most of the personnel on board.
The US military did not initially disclose the strike. Iranian media described the incident as a drone attack on “fishing boats” off the coast of Kargan and near Larak Island in Hormozgan province. Ahmad Nafisi, the province’s Deputy Governor for Security Affairs, attributed the strike to the US military, telling the semi-official Mehr news agency that an unspecified number of fishermen were missing amid ongoing search and rescue operations.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson Tim Hawkins confirmed the confrontation, stating that “small Iranian boats recently attempted to seize a US unmanned surface vessel, but were unsuccessful after CENTCOM forces responded forcefully”. Hawkins added that the surface drone remains under US operational control.
Axios described the incident as an “unusual” reflection of continued direct confrontation with Iran as the United States seeks to restore normal navigation levels through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to a US official, an average of 40 ships currently transit the strait daily under the protection and guidance of the US military, while approximately 14 million barrels of oil are exported through the waterway each day. Oil flows remain below pre-war levels, though several liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers also crossed the strait over the past week.
To further secure the route, US forces have expanded the mine-cleared sections of the strait’s middle shipping lane, according to Axios.
Despite these protective measures, shipping data from tracking firm Kpler, cited by Reuters, indicated that navigation in the Strait of Hormuz saw a further decline earlier this week following an escalation of attacks in the Middle East.
In a separate development on Monday, CENTCOM denied an IRGC claim that a Panama-flagged oil tanker had collided with a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz. The US command stated that the tanker was instead subjected to an Iranian drone attack, having previously been struck by an Iranian missile last month.
